Clockwork's Duty
by history101
Summary: A short prequel to 'Crossroads Betwixt Life and Death', in which Clockwork must choose between what is right for the time stream and what is right for Danny and Vlad.


**Clockwork's Duty**

* * *

Right before my eyes I saw the horrific destruction brought by one man; one man hell bent on destruction and chaos. Plasmius; a man hell bent on revenge and driven mad by months of isolation in space, finally choosing to unleash his sorrow out on the world. A sorrow so soul consuming that it had eaten away at the man's mind until there was nothing else left; no logic, no compassion, and no humanity.

I watched as the humans ran in fear, hiding in their houses and screaming for their lives as this...this monster destroyed their town...and they were powerless to stop him.

The sky was roaring in anger as the half ghost created a storm like no other I'd ever seen in history. Murderous bolts of lighting crackling down and singeing black holes in the ground. Strong, unbearable whirls of wind blew the roofs from houses, cars were picked up and fell from the sky, crashing down and crushing anything underneath.

The misty wind blew dust and rubble everywhere and obscured the features of the city, making it resemble a typical 'ghost town' and it had even begun to rain...which soon turned into a torrential downpour.

Then, from the chaos, I watched as Danny Phantom, the second half ghost struggled through the storm, and tried, in vain, to defeat his older, more experienced counterpart. Daniel was a powerful ghost in his own right, but Vladimir had 20 years of experience in ghost powers on him, and in a fight it was a clear that Plasmius would win every time.

The boy was tossed, thrown, and pushed aside as no more than a rag doll, I heard his agonised cries of pain as he failed to land even a single attack on Vladimir. The older half ghost showed no mercy, attacking with lighting, tornadoes, crackling ectoplasm and even occasionally, his fists.

I shook my head in sorrow for this unbearable future that would soon come to pass...unless...unless I did something to stop it.

"This must never be allowed to happen," one of the Observants said calmly.

"Agreed," I nodded, however it wasn't going to be easy.

"Perhaps it would be best...simply to dispose of all of the evidence on earth..." the other suggested.

"All of the evidence?" I questioned.

"Indeed," he nodded somewhat enthusiastically, "I believe there are two man made portals; they will have to go. Secondly, there is the family of hunters, and thirdly...the two half breeds..."

"They are our main concern," the other added grimly and I sighed.

"So you plan on killing them both," I asked.

"It would be best. Remember, Clockwork, remember our duty to the time stream. Which outcome is worse, the destruction of earth as we know it or the destruction of a single family to evade total disaster?"

"The latter, of course, but the manner in which..."

"Our decision is final. You intervened once, Clockwork, do not do so again, this is now our duty, you are relieved of yours."

"You do not have the authority to relive me of my duty," I glowered at them.

"We do not have the time to argue, this future must be stopped," another of them said quickly.

"We will decide on the correct course of action, Clockwork, you will do nothing."

Shortly afterwards they left me alone and I stared back at the foreboding image of a dark and sinister ghost destroying everything in sight with a power that rivalled any of my own.

The future that the Observants would create by their interference would be no better. I saw the intention of erasing all evidence of ghosts from earth, but that meant the murder of hundreds of innocents, the world constantly watched by the Observants.

The future I would attempt to build was perhaps a little brighter. I saw Daniel and Vladimir talking and laughing together as allies, not as enemies. Perhaps this is how it should have been from the beginning had Vladimir not been so warped and driven by revenge. But this world came with a price, a heavy price indeed; it meant the death of Daniel's family and his friends. It meant that I would lose his trust indefinitely, but it would all be worth it.

At least I hoped it would be.

Perhaps it was foolish for me, the master of time, to trust to hope, but what else could I do? It was my duty to act in the interests of the many, to protect the time stream...arguably I was protecting it from the Observants most of the time. Why they were still given free reign over the world was beyond me. Their powers of foresight were limited at best and it had made them draw numerous erroneous conclusions over the years...this was another instance of their stupidity.

I gripped my staff and sighed deeply, there was much work to be done, and, even for me, the Master of Time, it seemed that there was not nearly enough hours in which to correct the future. Already I could see dozens of different futures created from my interference which I hadn't even started yet. This was not something that the Observants could ever understand - the fragility of time.

But fragile or not, I simply could not allow this future to happen.

* * *

A.N. I know, I know, it's really short, I've never written anything less than 1,000 words really, but I liked it. I hope you did too :)

And, still, I have no official rights to Danny Phantom or Vlad Masters!


End file.
